Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the ongoing economic uncertainties in China amid lack of adequate financial policy measures. They also seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the US Fed’s upcoming interest rate decision tomorrow. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are also scheduled to make their policy announcements on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is extending its gains in mid-market trading on Monday, after snapping the five-session losing streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index still staying well above the 8,300.00 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks amid weaker commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 73.80 points or 0.90 percent to 8,323.30, after touching a high of 8,327.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 74.30 points or 0.88 percent to 8,568.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent. BHP Group is edging up 0.2 percent

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while is declining 1.5 percent, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is edging up 0.5 percent, while WiseTech Global, Xero and Zip are adding more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent, while Northern Star resources and Newmont are edging down 0.5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is adding almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Karoon Energy are tumbling more than 7 percent after the oil and gas producer downgraded its production guidance.

Shares in IT services and solutions provider Data#3 are plunging almost 10 percent after the announcement of changes to its partnership with Microsoft in Australia, including a reduction in the incentives earned.

Shares in Novonix Ltd. are surging almost 7 percent after the synthetic graphite maker received a conditional US$755 million loan from the US Department of Energy.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.637 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the loses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 39,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in index heavyweights and some exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,520.06, up 62.57 points or 0.16 percent, after touching a high of 39,796.22 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Japan Steel Works is surging almost 5 percent, while DeNA, IHI and Sumitomo Realty & Development are advancing more than 4 percent each. Nintendo is gaining more than 3 percent, while BANDAI NAMCO, Keisei Electric Railway, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Konami Group are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each, while New Zealand and Taiwan are up 0.4 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the lackluster performance seen during last Friday’s session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the charge, surging to a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq pulled back off its best levels going into the close but still ended the day up 247.17 points or 1.2 percent at 20,173.89. The S&P 500 also climbed 22.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,074.08, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and fell 110.58 points or 0.3 percent to 43,717.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel.

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